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TechSmith Revs Camtasia Studio, Camtasia Mac

TechSmith has released Camtasia Studio 7 and Camtasia for Mac 1.1, two software tools designed to let instructors create and edit presentations using screen capture technology.

Camtasia for Mac and Camtasia Studio are two screen recording and editing tools that also include support for recording simultaneously from connected audio and video devices, including a built-in Webcam (iSight in Camtasia for Mac), DV cameras, line-in, and built-in mic. Audio can be captured from other applications and files as well.

Both Camtasia for Mac and Camtasia Studio also include a range of editing, compositing, and encoding tools, with a traditional NLE timeline, support for special effects and transitions, media import, and support for text and shapes, among many other features.

For output, Camtasia for Mac supports various QuickTime formats, H.264, AVI, DV Stream, and 3G, as well as the audio-only formats AIFF and AU. Camtasia Studio outputs to Flash-friendly MP4, M4V (for iPod/iPhone), AVI, QuickTime, Real, animated GIF, MP3, and "Silverlight-compatible WMV." Both versions can also output directly to Screencast.com and YouTube.

The Camtasia for Mac 1.1 update adds several improvements, including:

Enhancements to audio, including improved scrubbing and various effects and adjustments, including noise reduction and pitch adjustment;

Pause and resume;

Voice-only recording;

Monitor selection; and

Region capture.

Camtasia for Mac is available now for the education price of $99 per single-user license. A free 30-day trial version is also available. Further information can be found here.

The more mature and full-featured Camtasia Studio 7 update adds:

Support for copying and pasting transitions, zooms, and other effects;

A library for saving various elements of the presentation;

New callouts, including additional styles, keystroke callouts (showing the actual keys on screen), and "sketch motion" callouts for using animated shapes;

Enhanced volume controls;

Editable cursor effects;

Enhanced SmartFocus;

New (free) media assets; and

UI enhancements.

The latest release also gains performance improvements that, according to TechSmith, boost frame rates by as much as 50 percent.

Camtasia Studio 7 is available now for the education price of $179. A free 30-day trial version is also available. Further information can be found here.

About the Author

David Nagel is edtorial director, education for 1105 Media's Public Sector Media Group. A 22-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art and business publications.